Ramen Daisho: Authentic Ramen House

Impressions of a Princess has featured several Japanese restaurants and ramen-ya (ramen house) in the past. Today’s feature is a new name which is gaining popularity in the food business and has thus captured my attention. Without further ado, let me introduce to you Ramen Daisho.

What’s in the name?

Daisho comes from two Kanji characters “dai” meaning big and “sho” for fly. In translation, it means “fly high”.

The owners of Ramen Daisho believe in this motto since they started putting up the business a little over a year ago. They trust the Filipinos’ penchant of trying new international dishes which led them to bring their Fukuoka-based name outside of Japan for the first time.

Location

I was very happy when I first learned the location of Ramen Daisho. More often than not, I get my ramen cravings around Makati and Bonifacio, so it was fortunate to know that the restaurant is located somewhere near my condo. Ramen Daisho is situated in the ground floor of Sunshine Square Liberty Center along Shaw Boulevard, Mandaluyong. It is near Puregold and Bon Chon.

Aside from its proximity, I like that it has ample space and free parking!

Ambiance

Ramen Daisho has a simple and very Japanese façade. Inside, the restaurant has a minimalist interior design typical to Asian establishments, with its rectangular light box, high ceiling, and comfortable couches. Overall, the ambiance is very laid back and relaxing.

Service

I like how a part of the kitchen area has a glass wall making the cooks visible to customers. The waiting staff are friendly and attentive as they assist diners. They are too helpful, in fact, that I was a tad irritated when a waitress offered information about the menu as if I didn’t know what I was ordering. I also noticed one gave unsolicited tips to my friend as if he know nothing about Japanese cuisine. Aside from the over accommodating behavior, the service was smooth and nice.

I remember when a waitress happily introduced an origami activity to us while waiting for our food to be served. A plain printed chopsticks wrapper was transformed into a Mt. Fuji origami chopstick holder after I followed simple steps printed in the wrapper. What an original and entertaining concept!

Food

I opted to get a Ramen Daisho Lunch Set. For only Php 420, I got a choice of ramen, gyoza, beef curry rice, and cabbage.

I got my favorite shoyu ramen. I specifically ordered for hard noodles, which the waiting staff kept on teaching me in Japanese. I am not sure if it is part of their training to make their diners look ignorant when ordering or the waitress was simply enthusiastic to offer the information.

The ramen was nice and tasty with authentic Japanese soy sauce boosting the flavor. The chashu meat is okay and served in generous amount. I had better tasting ramen, but what I like about the restaurant’s version is its way of serving noodles.

Best point: Ramen Daisho offers and uses three kinds of noodles to match its four kinds of ramen soup base. For shoyu and shio ramen, it uses thin and flat noodles. For miso, those curly chewy noodles go with it and thin straight noodles match Hakata ramen.

Beef Curry Rice

Katsu curry rice is one my comfort food, especially the chicken variant. Not seeing any chicken in the menu, I went for beef and immediately regretted my choice. It tastes well, but I am not really a fan of beef curry.

Gyoza

It has been over a month since I last tasted gyoza and I felt wonderful after putting one in my mouth. It is cooked well – the special thick wrapper golden and a bit burnt on the side. The sauce/dip perfectly complements the side dish.

For dessert, I ordered green tea matcha gelato. What else? It tastes like what matcha ought to be. I remember getting spoonfuls of ice cream from my friend though. He got soursop (guyabano) flavor which is very uncommon yet special. The gelato is bursting with flavor!

Verdict

Ramen Daisho Bloggers Night

Ramen Daisho restaurant offers authentic, Fukuoka-based ramen in Mandaluyong today. Its best points are its customized noodle to soup base option, Japanese culture entertainment (origami chopstick holder), and attentive waiting staff. I recommend Ramen Daisho to those ramen lovers who want to try a new gastronomic experience.